In recent years, economic woes have had one positive outcome; people have simplified their lives in order to live at a lower financial cost. In doing so, they have reaped benefits perhaps unforeseen. For example, the increased use of solar energy as a replacement for fossil fuel has helped people lower their fuel costs, but it has also reduced carbon emissions and had a positive impact on the environment. Learning relatively simple tasks like how to make a homemade solar panel for pennies on the dollar, can save people money and prevent harm to the earth. What a deal!

How to build a solar panel theoretically: How does one go about learning about solar energy? There are multiple resources for consideration. If one wants to learn the basics about harnessing solar energy from an intellectual or theoretical perspective, there are several options. Most people find human interaction a really great way to learn. They can call up or write to their local university and ask to either speak with someone about solar energy or see if there are any workshops or classes being offered on the topic. Others prefer to learn by the book. For them, the library would probably be the best place to start. There, they can access resources, both on line and in book form, that can help answer their questions. They can also find information that might lead them elsewhere, for example a list of books for the local bookstore to fill.

How to build a solar panel kinetically: For a more kinetic and less theoretical approach, there are also a number of ways to learn how to build a solar panel. One of the most direct approaches, of course, would be to buy a solar panel kit and figure out how it works. One could also find someone who installs solar panels professionally, and either ask them how they do their work or see if they are willing to take on an apprentice for a day or two. Or, there are always garage experiments that could turn out to be the solar equivalent of the invention of the light bulb.

Why go to all this work to learn how to build a solar panel? One could do it out of curiosity's sake, or to save money on hiring someone else to do it, or for the simple fact that if you built it, you can probably figure out how to fix it if anything goes wrong. Whatever the reason, building a solar panel will save money, both short-term and over the long haul, and using renewable resources will prevent further harm to the earth.